The present invention relates to a steel laminate gasket with a plate information device so that a kind of gasket is readily recognized after the gasket is assembled.
In a steel laminate gasket, the gasket is formed of a plurality of steel plates. Since the outer configuration is substantially the same in all the steel plates, it is very difficult to recognize the plates after assembly.
Recently, efficiency of an engine has significantly advanced. Therefore, a top clearance between a piston at a top dead center and an inner top portion of a cylinder head is precisely selected, because the top clearance affects the power and exhaust gas of an engine.
The top clearance is generally determined when an engine is designed. However, since a gasket is installed between a cylinder head and a cylinder block, a precise adjustment of the top clearance is made by selecting the thickness of the gasket.
On the other hand, in order to efficiently utilize engines, the same engines are used for different models of cars. In this case, the engines are slightly modified to suit the respective models. The top clearance may be changed by changing the thickness of a gasket.
In case the thickness of a gasket is changed, one of plates is exchanged for a different plate with different thickness. Namely, in the same gasket, a plurality of plates with different thickness is prepared and used according to the models of the cars.
Before a gasket is assembled, it is easy to recognize the plates by marking signs on them. However, after the gasket is assembled, it is very difficult to recognize the plate used in the gasket, because the plate to be changed is not seen well from outside, i.e. sandwiched between upper and lower plates.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,607, a steel laminate gasket with assembly order identification device is disclosed, wherein each plate is provided with projections. Assembly order can be identified by checking the projections when the gasket is assembled.
However, in this patent, the respective plates must have projections to identify the plates. Namely, even if the configuration of the plates is the same, since the respective plates have different projections, different cutting devices are required for cutting the respective plates. Therefore, this method is not proper in case at least one plate in a steel laminate gasket is to be identified.
Accordingly, one object of the invention is to provide a steel laminate gasket, wherein a steel plate situated in a middle of a gasket can be easily identified after the gasket is assembled.
Another object of the invention is to provide a steel laminate gasket as stated above, wherein all the plates can be manufactured by the same cutting device without using a different cutting device.
A further object of the invention is to provide a steel laminate gasket as stated above, which can be manufactured easily and economically.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.